In the week ending on 8 January, an estimated 20,508 people died, compared to a seasonal average of 15,000.

The ONS said the flu outbreak had bumped up the number of deaths from respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia.

More than 3,200 people in England died from flu and other respiratory diseases in the first week of the year, according to the Association for Flu Monitoring and Surveillance (AIMS).

However, it said the flu outbreak has not hit epidemic levels and appeared to have reached its peak.

Respiratory disease killed 3,219 people between 4 and 11 January when flu cases rose by 80% in some parts of the country.

The BBC's James Westhead: "The winter crisis is not over yet"

In the last week of December, there were 2,183 deaths from respiratory disease and just 1,599 died in the last week of November.

Recorded cases of flu in the first week of January reached 272 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 188 cases per 100,000 in the previous week.

However, they were still not up to the 400 cases per 100,000 which would qualify the outbreak as an epidemic.

Not an epidemic

A spokeswoman for AIMS said: "The death rate and the flu rate is worse than last year when it was exceptionally mild, but in 1996 the death rate peaked at around 5,000 in one week."

She said AIMS believed the flu was following the five-week pattern of other flu outbreaks.

This means it should have peaked last week.

"There may be another slight rise in the figures, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end," she said.

The outbreak led to a huge surge in emergency admissions to hospital.

Many hospitals had problems coping with the crisis because of lack of staff and beds.

The worst hit areas were in the North and Midlands.

However, despite the annoucement that the outbreak is easing, some areas are still experiencing problems.

Worst ever

Professor David Bennett at the intensive care unit at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, said his ward round on Thursday was the worst he had experienced.

Dr Bennett: 'this is the worst crisis I have seen'

He told the BBC's PM programme that his unit had admitted two patients from a hospital in Harlow overnight because there were no beds there.

They had also admitted a man who had been shuttled between two other hospitals in less than a week because of a lack of beds.

The man was originally admitted to a hospital in Slough where he had to have a leg amputated.

He went downhill after the operation and suffered a heart attack.

He was then admitted to a hospital in Reading because of a shortage of beds in Slough.

He caught a hospital bug there and was put into isolation, but on Thursday he was transferred to St George's because he was the least ill person in the Reading hospital's intensive care unit.

"I feel we are not offering people the best service available," said Dr Bennett. "If we compare ourselves with most other developed countries, the service we give is inferior."

He added that this was not due to the quality of staff, but to lack of funds, nurses and beds.

The Emergency Bed Service had told him on Thursday that the nearest additional bed was in Torbay or Manchester.

Listening Tour

Meanwhile, Conservative leader William Hague visited St Mary's Hospital in London on Thursday, two days after the Prime Minister's secret trip to a different London hospital.

His aides said the trip had been arranged weeks ago and was part of Mr Hague's Listening Tour of the UK.

Mr Hague blamed advances in medical technology and increased demand for the crisis in the health service.